Holy Week is a long journey through various stages.
All these steps are meant for study and understanding of the events that
led to the execution of Jesus, and each stage bears a symbolic meaning
with a certain phase of the life of Christ.

Let us start with the stage that lies at the gateway. Ash Wednesday is
where the journey begins. The Ash opens the gate to the Lent, the event Holy
week itself follows as a journey of penance through Lent.

Lent:

Lent is a forty day period of penance meant for sharing the sorrows and
sufferings of Christ. Originally Lent was meant for a period of
complete fasting to commemorate the forty-day fast of Jesus. Jesus spent
these days in the desert after his baptism and till the beginning of his
public ministry. In the early church, this fasting period was meant for a
preparation to receive the sacrament to be given to those who would be baptized on the eve of Easter.

In course of time, the emphasis of the season turned from preparing for
baptism to more penitential aspects. Even persons guilty of notorious sins
spent their time performing public penances. Only at the end of the Lent
were they publicly accepted back in an elaborate ceremony. The penitents
were presented to the bishop singly. And then in a group they protested
themselves while seven penitential psalms were sung.

Palm Sunday:

The last Sunday of the Lent is known as the Palm Sunday. This is when Jesus
rode triumphantly into Jerusalem where he was greeted warmly by the crowd.
In the words of St Matthew:

"Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut
branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that
went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
And this is where the basis of the Palm Sunday procession lies.

The first reference to the Palm Sunday procession, is found in the travel
journal of Etheria, the nun from the northwest Spain. She made a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century. She referred the day to
be the beginning of the Paschal Week.

The Holy Monday & Tuesday:

Monday of the Holy Week is not a major feast. The cleansing of the temple in
the Holy City of Jerusalem is thought to have taken place on this Monday.
This was when Jesus freed the animals to be slaughtered and overturned the
tables of the moneychangers, saying to them: " It is written, 'My house
shall be called a house of prayer'; But you make it a den of robbers".
[Matthew: 21:13]

The Tuesday of the Holy Week is the day when the famous incident between
Jesus and Pharisees is thought to have taken place. This was when the
churchmen tried to trap Jesus into making a blasphemous, or, anti-god
remark. This day is important also on another count. Jesus discoursed to his
disciples on the Mount of Olives about the destruction of Jerusalem and the
signs of the last day.

Spy Wednesday:

On the Wednesday the tempo of the Holy Week increases. This is the day
widely known as "Spy Wednesday". For it is the day when Judas Iscariot, a
disciple turned betrayer agreed to show the chief priests where they could
easily capture Jesus.

Maundy Thursday:

The Thursday of the Holy Week is associated with the Last Supper. The day is
known as Maundy Thursday, or, Holy Thursday. It is the day before the
crucifixion. On this day Jesus had his supper, his last course, with his
disciples.

Good Friday:

The Friday of the week is the Good Friday. This is the day on which Jesus
was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, at the top of the Calvary
hill.

This day is marked by solemn observations in memory of Jesus' crucifixion.

Roman Catholics observe the day usually through fast and abstinence to
commemorate the pains and sufferings Jesus underwent on the cross. It is
since the 4th century that Good Friday came to be observed as a separate
occasion. Before this, an annual celebration was held as Christian Passover,
or, Pascha, to mark both Christ's death on Cross and the Resurrection.

Saturday Easter Eve; Black Sabbath

The day following Good Friday is the Holy Saturday. This is usually called
Easter Eve in Anglican churches, and is held as a traditional time for
baptism services.

Presently, this day is primarily a Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, as well
as Anglican observance. Roman Catholic churches observe this with the
blessing and lighting of a tall Paschal candle. The candle is placed on the
altar on the Holy Saturday. While blessing, five grains of incense are fixed
in it, representing the five wounds of Jesus and the burial spices with
which his body was anointed. The candle is lit and remains on the Gospel
side of the altar until Ascension Day. This day comes at the end of forty
days which mark the period through which Christ showed up himself of and on
following the crucifixion. On Ascension Day Christ is believed to have
ascended to the heaven.

Easter Sunday:

Easter Sunday is the day of the feast. This day, the third since the
crucifixion, is where Christ is believed to have shown himself to His
beloved Mary Magdalene. Jesus then also joined his other disciples for a
meal. Easter comes at the end of the six days of the Holy Week which came to
be associated with the life of Jesus before the Resurrection.

This day is when Christ is believed to have shown himself after his death
through crucifixion. He had risen up from his tomb that was guarded by the
sentries, and met his disciples to get them prepared to continue his works
in his absence.